WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue will launch its yearlong 150th birthday party this Saturday at halftime during the Homecoming game.

The Spirits and Traditions committee took their own great leap into history books by presenting Purdue's first gender-neutral Homecoming court.

The decision was a student-driven effort to push forward with gender equality across all platforms, Director of Spirits and Traditions John Brock said.

Historically, the committee usually receives more female candidates than male. This past year was the lowest count of male candidates, said Zane Reif, Director of Purdue's Memorial Union.

Instead of filling the male slots with less worthy candidates and turning down female candidates with more student involvement the committee decided a gender-neutral court would be the most fair, Brock said.

“The current candidates we chose had better resumes, better applications and better represented Purdue so we wanted to give it to them rather than giving it to two other male candidates just because they’re male," he said.

This change was one that candidate Maci Tetrick said she really appreciated. Being an Atmospheric Science major means that Tetrick is sometimes one of three or four women in her classes, she said. A gender-neutral court was a step in the right direction for overarching gender equality, she said.

"If Purdue can do this then hopefully some other people in the community can do this too with scholarships and jobs," she said.

The same goes for her extracurricular life. Tetrick and fellow candidate Caroline Shanley are both in Purdue's Purdettes and when they found out they had both made court they worried they would be pitied against each other.

Now, with the elimination of king and queen titles everyone gets two votes for "royalty" meaning that their choir friends don't have to choose between them.

"When we found out it was a gender-neutral option it was a big relief," Shanley said.

Although Purdue is not the first university or high school to switch to a gender-neutral Homecoming court, candidates were warned ahead of time that there might be some backlash toward the changing tradition, Brock said.

When the announcement was made public in June it did prompt some complaints from alumni, but overall positive feedback from current students, Brock said.

Candidate Lindsay Neufer, an Industrial Management-Analytical Consulting major, said while she avoided reading any negative comments or posts she did field questions from friends and family.

"I definitely know a lot of people who are confused by the court," Neufer said. "I think being located in rural Indiana made people (here) a little surprised."

Shanley, who runs Purdue's main Twitter account @LifeatPurdue, said she did see the occasional alumni bemoaning tradition or a few conservative Twitter users linking the announcement to Fox News personality Tucker Carlson's short-lived "ban on man" crusade in February.

Navigating the public release and minor push back that followed ended up being great practice for Political Science and Public Relations majors Shanley and Adam Cullers.

The campaign for the crown let Cullers highlight his skills in public relations and social media but also gave him a platform to recruit students for next year, he said.

"Not only does it open opportunities for students who are non-binary or third gender but also for more diverse students," Cullers said.

Cullers, who was the Team Supervisor for Boiler Gold Rush International, said he hopes this opens the door for more international students and other minority groups. He's already started scouting for future leaders in his friend groups, especially those from African-American or Asian student groups who may not have felt represented in the past.

"I think they're more excited about this now because they actually see opportunities for them to be recognized for who they are and not what they are," Cullers said.

Inclusivity stretches beyond ethnic, racial, or gender bounds as well. At a school that ranks in the top 10 for engineering schools and heavily boasts its STEM alumni, Cullers said he was proud to represent the liberal arts side of Purdue.

The same goes for Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences major Katie D'Addato, who said she feels like she can be the face for some of the less represented aspects of college life like the St. Thomas Aquinas Music Ministry or the Purdue Performance Collaborative theatre program.

"It's really exciting to be part of a group of 10 people that represent so many different corners of Purdue and all the different things you can achieve as a campus," D'Addato said.